Charmed Life and Loving Kindness

Many things have happened lately leading me to ponder the title of this article. Recently, a peer’s business was forced to close by the economic downturn. Though thoroughly developed, it was not sustainable in the economic climate. Instead of closing/disappearing without a trace she let everyone know from her employees to her clients the state of the situation. This to me was an example of loving-kindness.

Sunday, I did the AIDS walk. I wound up walking with a colleague. He invited me to walk with him and his friends. I did so, as we walked he and I talked we learned more about each other in those 2 hours than we had in years of working professionally together. As we walked, he said how I appear to be full of loving-kindness and acceptance.

The past two experiences made me reflect on my life. Though I have lived through times of great struggle it has always been my nature to approach things with loving-kindness. And in my bleakest hour there were always loving people who helped or guided me, through their own loving-kindness. This makes me feel as if I have lived a charmed life. I have had a great support network, whether it be close loved ones or strangers, that reached out (like when my car broke down at the side the road and I had no means to contact anyone. I was a few hours away from my parent’s home in the middle of nowhere. A nice couple who had dropped their daughter off at UCSB offered to give me a ride to my parent’s house).

Recently I took a sojourn to Europe. Over the course of 3+ years, I met 3 individuals who invited me to come visit and stay in their homes. I accepted their offers and visited them all in one swoop. Away I went to London, Paris and Berlin. When I arrived in each place I was amazed at the loving kindness and hospitality of those I stayed with, they went above and beyond what I consider a good host. I was just excited to be in a new country, a new space.  They took time out of their busy schedules to show me things, to have dinner, to make dinner. I also had the pleasure of wandering about on my own, discovering new things, buildings, and restaurants. The trip was quite divine (minus the travel portion which if I were to report on it wouldn’t sound so charmed).

This was my first trip to Europe (hopefully not my last). But I had been warned that the British weren’t friendly, the French were rude, and the Germans sounded angry but were nice. When I arrived, I started to wonder if the stories I had been told were out of the desire to keep such beautiful amazing places to themselves. In all three countries I encountered kindness.  Random people offered to carry my bags up stairs in each country (as I carried my 40″ bag via my 60″ frame up and down subway platforms, train stations and airports). Strangers engaged me in conversation. They included me in things to do. People were polite and helpful. They spoke to me in English, and when others didn’t speak English someone would translate. I was surrounded by kindness, the kind of which my parents used to talk about when they were growing up.

When I came back and relayed my trip to others who had been to those places, they said that my experience was unique. They said that wasn’t common place for Americans traveling abroad. To which I retorted, “Then I must have a charmed life.”

And when I said that, I reflected on the many moments in my life in which loving-kindness was bestowed upon me in unlikely places… both moments of comfort and moments of tribulation. In that sense I have had a charmed life. This article doesn’t even include the likely places. Then I started to think about others, and how, in this first world nation of ours, we are all charmed in some way.

How are you charmed?

In Other Views:

I must mention that Dagie Brundert makes the best espresso I have ever had, and makes brilliant films. Check out her blog and films.

Thank you Rachel Hardy for your wise and powerful hands removing the discomfort of travel.

Also, my blog on Is ‘Good enough, Good Enough?’ for the elephant journal is up. Give it a read if you feel so compelled.

Tagged: alternative health, anxiety, Berlin, blog, Charmed, Dagie Brundert, Elephant Journal, energy healing, EUROPE, France, Germany, healing, holistic health journey, London, Los Angeles, Loving Kindness, natural healing, Paris, Rachel Hardy, self improvement, subconscious beliefs, subconscious mind, Travel, United Kingdom, wellness